Unmanned ground vehicles capable of autonomous navigation are useful for many purposes and have applications in both military and commercial settings. For example, they may reduce exposure of humans to potentially dangerous situations, reduce manpower requirements in shipping operations, increase traffic flow efficiency and provide pedestrians with hands free operation of a vehicle that can carry their belongings. The state of the art in autonomous navigation generally focuses on the ability to sense and interpret the surrounding environment through on-board sensors and/or a priori map data and make decisions in real-time regarding the path to follow. Such autonomous navigation systems can be complex, expensive and are not always capable of achieving a level of reliability that may be required for a particular application.
What is needed, therefore, is an improved method for autonomous navigation of unmanned ground vehicles that offers increased reliability with reduced cost and complexity.